The Unforeseen Happens
by web of light
Summary: A silly bit of fluff about Harry giving Tom a hard time because he finally has a date with B'Elanna. Humor.


"So how is he?" Tom asked as took his seat at his normal table in the mess hall.

"Physically he's fine. Emotionally, I don't know. It's going to take him a while to get over this one." B'Elanna replied as she picked at her food. "I'm not afraid to admit that I was really worried there for a while."

"We all were. I can't begin to imagine what it must have been like," Tom took a drink of replicated coffee. "It's odd when you think about it. We're afraid of the Borg but it's not because they might annihilate us or torture us just because they can. They threaten us with something we fear most of all. The fear of losing ourselves."

She visibly shuddered. "I don't think the former Borg were evil people...not really but we could have found another way to help them. They didn't need to go hijacking Chakotay's brain…" Her eyes were still on her uneaten rations. She raised a clenched fist and let it fall on the table hard enough to cause the plates to rattle.

"Hey," He said reaching out to touch her hand. "He's ok now." He half expected her to jerk it away but she didn't. "You know him better than anyone else. You know he'll come back from this."

Raising her eyes she slowly withdrew her hand.

"You're right. It's just I've known him for so long and he's been such a good friend. It's hard not to worry...and to fight the anger."

"It's understandable," he said. Their relationship was slowly progressing. She didn't roll her eyes when he shared a table with her nor did she snap at him when he tried to lighten the mood during tense situations. Something about her had changed since Sakari but then he had to admit that he had changed as well.

"I need a break," She said. She folded and unfold her napkin. "I'm tired of worrying about every little thing. I need to get away." She looked around the room but she wasn't seeing the usual lunch time crowd. He could tell her mind was drifting to some place far from here. Her eyes snapped back around to him, fixing on him like a sensor target.

"Do you still have your Lake Como program?" She asked.

"Yes. It's still there, easy enough for you to find. It's called oddly enough, Lake Como."

"Is the invitation to go sailing with you still open?"

Tom's jaws dropped. He heard her words but they weren't translating to his brain properly. He temporarily lost control of his mental facilities. B'Elanna's eyes stayed fixed on him, waiting for an answer.

"You mean the invitation from over a year ago? You remember that?" That was a dumb reaction. She wouldn't be asking about it if she didn't remember. Why did the temperature in the room suddenly rise?

Now she rolled her eyes.

"Of course, I remember. Is the invitation still open or not?"

"Yes," He said slowly wondering where this was going.

"Well, I accept. I know we're both off this evening and I have holodeck time. Eighteen hundred hours sound ok to you?"

Tom's mouth refused to work.

"Oh...I'm sorry. If you have something else planned…" she began.

"No, nothing else planned." He said. "Eighteen hundred hours. I'll be there." He couldn't even conjure up a witty remark. He should say something like 'it's about time' but try as he might there was nothing there.

She gave him a nice smile as she left the table. She'd been doing that a lot lately. Smiling at him. He watched her throw her tray in the reclamation bin and kept his eyes on her as she left the room. He turned his eyes back around surprised to see Harry occupying the spot B'Elanna had just vacated.

"So how's it going?" Harry asked. He dug into the Plenka Rind casserole with gusto.

"I have a date with B'Elanna," he said. Harry stopped eating long enough to give him a long stare. "Tonight." Tom's own words sounded like gibberish to his own ears.

"After all this time she finally said yes? I thought you had just about given up."

"She didn't exactly say yes. Well, she did...but then…"

"What are you rambling about?"

"We're going sailing tonight on Lake Como. I did ask her, once a long time ago but tonight...tonight was her idea."

"She asked you?"

"Sort of. Well...I issued the invitation first but she wasn't interested then but...then I...then she…" He normally didn't allow himself to get so flustered. "Yes. She asked me."

Harry put down his fork. He was trying hard to force back a smile but it was futile. He threw back his head and laughed long and loud. The noise level in the mess hall went down to zero as everyone looked around the room at the source. Harry, realizing he was the center of attention tried to reign in his amusement but he couldn't do it. He took a drink of water in an attempt to get a hold of himself but just one look at Tom was enough to set him off again.

"I wish you could see the look on your face. Pure shell shock. I think you're actually blushing. Tom Paris blushing..." He said. He was reduced to uncontrollable giggles.

"It's not funny," Tom said.

"No, it's not." He made an attempt to be serious. He firmly shut his mouth and forced it into a straight line. "This could be the beginning of something real and as such should be taken seriously. It's not funny." His mouth would not stop quivering. "Except it is!"

Tom leaned forward. "Would you please stop it!" He pleaded. He deliberately kept his voice low.

"Ok. I'm sorry. It's just that I don't normally get to see you like this."

"Like what?"

"Taken by surprise. You're usually so calm and collected and now things are out of your control. I'm going to enjoy this. After all your plotting and planning, then you reach the point where you are ready to give up and then this happens." Harry leaned forward and lowered his own voice. " What happened on Saraki anyway?"

"None of your business."

"I know she bit you and she's half Klingon so..."

"Shut up." Tom snapped. Instead of looking offended Harry's eyebrows shot up and his face took on an expression of quizzical amusement.

"She wasn't in her right mind so nothing was going to happen if you understand what I'm saying," Tom said. The noise level in the room went back up. He felt his cheeks grow warm at the mention of Sakari. He was back there, gently pushing B'Elanna against the cave wall.

"You ARE blushing!"

"Harry, do I have to pull you rank on you?"

"Ok. I get it. You don't want to talk about it...but whatever you did, or didn't do it seems to have made an impression on her."

"I guess so," Tom said. He started to pick up his fork but missed it causing it to clatter to the floor.

"You're nervous." Harry teased. Tom picked the fork up and gently laid it back on the table.

"I am not."

"Yes, you are. You're going to be thinking about this for the rest of the day." Tom wished they were alone. He would give Harry a real piece of his mind. He was tempted to start throwing food in order to shut him up. Right when he thought he had reached his limit the smile disappeared from Harry's face.

"In all seriousness, you and B'Elanna were the first friends I made in this quadrant and nothing would make me happier than to see things work out for you."

"I could almost believe you meant that."

"I do. It would be nice to see something positive come out of this whole experience and if nothing else it will be very entertaining to watch. You and B'Elanna. Both as stubborn as hell." The smile returned to his face. "Just think... I'll have a front-row seat." The smile became a blatant smirk.

A piece of bread came hurtling in his direction. Harry ducked out of the way just in time.


End file.
